A former employee of Riot Games (League of Legends) has sued CEO Nicolo Laurent for sexual harassment. His own assistant says: The CEO had allegedly harassed her multiple times over the years, and she was fired when she refused to engage in an affair with him. Riot Games states: The woman was terminated due to a multitude of complaints.
These are the allegations: Sharon O’Donnell is a former employee of Riot Games. She worked for nearly three and a half years as an “Executive Assistant” for Nicolo Laurent.
The former employee filed a lawsuit for sexual harassment on January 7th at a court in LA County (via documentcloud.org). She is seeking damages. The US site Vice has now picked up and made public these allegations.
Among the allegations are:
- Laurent allegedly invited O’Donnell to his home while his wife was away – reportedly using the term “cum,” which clearly sexualizes the invitation.
- The CEO allegedly discussed the size of her underwear with her.
- He allegedly told her that his wife was jealous of beautiful women.
- He allegedly complained about her tone and told her to behave “more feminine.”
- Laurent allegedly advised female employees to have a child to cope with the stress from Covid better.
- Riot Games reportedly has a “male-dominated culture.” Female employees are said to be discriminated against, harassed, and treated as second-class citizens. There are very few female executives at Riot Games.
What was the outcome with the employee at Riot Games? The complaint states: When the employee did not respond to these advances, it allegedly led to her termination. After she refused to “cum” at the boss’s house, her treatment became hostile and aggravating. She was yelled at, had tasks taken from her, and ultimately was fired.
She believes that her termination was wrongful and that it was due to her refusal to engage in an affair with the CEO.
Additionally, she was not paid for all hours worked and was not allowed meal breaks.
The employee states that she is now receiving medical treatment due to the sexual harassment.
Riot Games denies the alleged reason for the termination
This is what Riot Games says: The LoL developers state in a statement to Vice: They are investigating the allegations, but for now, Laurent continues to work as normal. Since the allegations concern the CEO, a special committee is overseeing the investigation being conducted by an external law firm.
The CEO has assured full support and cooperation.
One thing Riot Games can already say: The employee was terminated 7 months ago due to “many well-documented complaints from a variety of people.” Any other claims are simply false.
How does O’Donnell appear publicly?? According to her LinkedIn page, Sharon O’Donnell worked as “Executive Assistant to Chief Executive Officer” at Riot Games from October 2017 to July 2020 (via linkedin). This would be a position that was previously referred to as a chief secretary.
On her Twitter page, she describes herself as “Beautiful, thick-skinned, former Executive Assistant at Riot Games, fired in July 2020 for having a ‘tone’ problem” (via twitter). On Twitter, she shares articles about women in leadership positions and articles about incidents of sexual harassment, especially at Riot Games.
During the time Sharon O’Donnell was at Riot Games, additional allegations were made against the LoL developers. They are said to have created a misogynistic climate:
League of Legends: 2 women sue Riot – Here are the allegations
